“You think she had a secret boyfriend?” Felicity asked. Another gulp. “Why wouldn’t she tell us?”

“Maybe she knew you wouldn’t approve. Look, Vera is a smart, sweet girl, but every girl is hiding something. And for good reason. I would hate to know the details of what Ollie and Cody were doing as teenagers.” Debra glanced at her boys. “Secrets are part of life.”

“Not for a fifteen-year-old child, Debra,” Felicity snapped. Mom had become Debra, which meant Debra had crossed a line.

“Especially a fifteen-year-old child. Teenagers are the biggest secret-keepers of all.”

I couldn’t correct Debra that it wasn’t necessarily true. Nothing compared to the depth of my secrets.

Felicity ran her hand over her walnut brown hair, noticeably grayer than when I last saw her, and tightened her drooping ponytail. A sole gray strand here and there had become sprinklings of silver. Stress was taking its toll. As her bony wrist dropped back to her side, it flashed against the lamplight. I couldn’t help but be awestruck by the diamond bracelet with a striking inset turquoise stone that matched the one she had given Vera for her fifteenth birthday. Turquoise—Vera’s favorite color. Vera had paraded around the house showing it off for days afterward. At the time I had wondered how many cars they could have bought for the same price. Now I only wondered if Vera would ever wear hers again.

I glanced at Cody standing alone in the corner of the room, watching me. He looked sad. I ambled over to him.

“I saw you eyeing Felicity’s bracelet,” he said. He noticed everything and yet nothing. He caught me ogling a shiny bracelet but was clueless to the deep guilt that kept me up at night.

“So what?”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment.

“I know you wish I could afford to buy you stuff like that. I’m sorry I’m not a better provider for you, Mare.”

I shook my head. “Are you for real with that? You’re everything I want, Cody.” Almost.

“So you’re saying you would never want a gift so extravagant?”

“Nah, it’s way too expensive for my taste.” I winked at him. It was an easy lie after all of the other bigger lies.

“Riiiight, who needs diamonds when you’ve got love like ours?” Cody forced a weak grin, his cheeks flushing an embarrassed pink. We both knew love was fleeting, but like the old ad slogan said, a diamond is forever. “One day I’ll show them all. I’ll be making bank soon, babe.”

I hated when he called me babe.

Debra announced that dinner would be served soon, begging Felicity to eat a bite—wine isn’t dinner, she added. “Just a bite to keep up your strength,” Debra pleaded, to which Felicity raised her wineglass for a refill.